Burial casket



Jul 8, 1924;

M. J. M DONALD BURIAL CASKET Filed March 4. 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 .Fuiy 8,1924.

V M. J. M DONALD BURIAL CASKET Filed March 4. 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 M. J. M DONALD BURIAL GASKET Filed March 4. 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR Murmyfflfaofiawi atented July 8, 1924.

QFElCE.

Mun-any J. MACDONALD, or New YORK, n. y.

BURIAL GASKET.

Application filed March 4, 1924. Serial No. 596,726.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, MURRAY J. MACDON- ALD, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at New York, county of Queens, State of New York, have invented a new and useful Burial Gasket, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the construction and lining of caskets. The main object is to make'it possible to utilize a solid and substantial type of construction and yet make-it possible to produce attractive ornamental lining effects.

It is, of course, well known that various ornamental display effects may be produced by dividing the sides and top of a casket body and providing hinged joints so that the sides may be dropped or the cover opened sectionally. Such constructions however, are weak and the sections frequently become warped sothatthe parts'do not {it together properly and so that openings and cracks are left at the various joints. It has also been proposed to provide loose flounces or valances which may be thrown over the edges of the open casket. \Vhile it is possible in this way to utilize a solid body, the loose cloth efi'ect is very unattractive and insubstantial. I have sought to provide a construction of the most substantial type but with a lining carrier or attach- Inent so constructed that it may be entirely folded within the casket or spread out and down overthe side edge so as to produce the appearance of what is commonly termed a drop side casket. This attachment is of such a nature that it may also be used to support a lining at various'angles and even to produce the effect of a back ground at the rear edge. By utilizing such attachments on'opposite sides and at one end the appearance of a half couch may be produced. By providing such attachments along both edges and at both ends a regular full couch eifect may be produced. hen the lining and attachments or supports are folded up within the casket body or shell the outward appearance is exactly the same as that of a regular solid or uncut body. The invention may be applied equally well to hinged top or detachable top caskets with the cover in one piece or two pieces. In the accompanying drawings I have shown various ways in which the invention may be applied.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the burial casket embodying improvements of my invention, the cover being in two parts. One part is raised and the lining fully spread out 'or displayed. Y

Figs. 2 and 3 are perspective views of-two of the lining supports or attachments.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing one of theattachments inplace folded" up inside the casket body. i

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the hinge members for a lining attachment or support. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a casket, one half of the cover being-removed and the lining disposed so as to give the appearance ofa regular half couch. v

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the same, the lining being broken away at one corner to'show the supports.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary detail sectional view on the plane of the line 88 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view of acorner pad support. 7

Fig. 10 is a front view of a casket with a one-piece cover in the raised or open position and the lining disposed in the form of-a one-third drop side effect.

Fig. 11 is a front view of a casket with the entire cover removed and showing the lining displayed to produce a full couch efiect.

Fig. 12 is a transverse sectional view of the construction of Fig. 1 showing the cover raised and the lining disposed as in Fig. 1. Fig. 13 is a similar end view and partia section but with the lining folded up inside and the cover closed.

Fig. 14 is a front view of a casket with a lining concealed inside and the cover detached.

Fig. 15 is a diagrammatic section showing various adjustments of supports.

The body or shell 16 may be of any suitable design, construction, or material but preferably the sides are solidly'constructed and permanently secured to the ends and to the bottom so that it will be as strong as possible and without cracks, joints, or hinges. In the forms shown in Figs. 1, 12, and 14, the cover is in two parts, 1717. Both of these parts may be conveniently provided with hinges 1818 of hook-like form adapted to be det-achably seated in slotted plates 19 in the upper edge of the body so that the cover sections may be swung back in the positions shown inFigs. 1 and 12, or removed entirely when desired. Each 28 of the lining is preferably left loose or unattached in order to facilitate the ad ustment of the support or attachment which serves as a foundation for the lining.

Each lining attachment or support preferably consists of two strips or boards 3.116125 which are connected together by desired hinges such as 26. Preferably the adjacent edges are beveled as shown at 27 so as to permit the two boards to beswung into the position shown in Figs. 2 and 12. The lining; support is preferably connected to the upper inner edge of the casket body or shell by means of special hinges such as shown in Figs. 2. 3, 4, 5. 12, and 13 so as to permit of various adjustments as shown. Each hinge consists of the three parts 28, 29. and 30 connectedtogether so that they can be folded up as shown in Figs. 4 and 13, or extended into the positions of Figs. 2, 8, and 12. Th'e'base part 28 is intended to be secured to the shell of the casket. for instance, by means of screws 31. The outer part 30 is intended to be secured to the inner edge of the strip 24 of the support. The parts 28 and 29 are connected together by any suitable knuckle and pin construction 32. The parts of the hinge'may conveniently be connected by some form of adjustable friction connection as shown in Fig. 5. In this construction the part 29 is provided with an extension 33 which embraces the pin 34 which passes through the knuckles 35 on the part 30. By loosening or tightening the screw 36 the grip of the 'member'33 on the pin 34"m'ay be varied so as to produce the V frictional resistance to relative movement of the two hinge parts 29 and 30. It should be understood, of course, that the same sort of adjustable friction connection may be provided between the parts 28 and 29 of the hinge.

1' also prefer to provide padding strips such as36'f0r lns tance of felt or cotton attached conveniently alongrfhe outer edge of the support 25 andfadapted to entirely cover the supports 25 and 24 and extend down insidethe edge of the casket shell so asto'ordinarlly cover up all of the hinges and produce a soft cushion effect. By leav ing'the' inner edge 37 loose. ii'owever. it is possible to lift up the padding and the lining so as to 'get at thescrews 36 for adjusting the friction oints when necessary. This alsb makes it possible to spread out the lining when shipping the casket and thus avoid -creasing or mussing.

It will be obvious that attachments such as just described may be provided for supporting the lining at the front and in the back as shown in Fig. 12. I also provide similar supports at the end as shown in Fig. 7. In this case I also prefer to provide a support in the corner in the form of a corner pad 38 for instance of felt or cotton or other suitable padding whose inner end 39 is secured in the body of the casket. and whose outer edge 4 is preferably doubled over or otherwise thickened to produce additional stiffness. This corner pad while entirely unattached to the sine and end sup ports reenforces and holds the lining in place at the corners when the linin is spread out. The corner pad may also be folded up inside. out of the way when desired.

The thickness of supports and padding is somewhat exaggerated in the drawing but it will be understood that these foldinp sup ports are quite compact and capable of being folded into the shell without interfering with the body.

It will be understood, of course. that the usual upholstery of the casket may be em ployed such as the bed 42 and that any form of pillow 43 may be used. It will also he understood that the cover may have any form of upholstery or lining 44.

In the construction shown in Fig. 10 the cover 17* is in one piece and the lining 21 extends the full length of the casket body. In this case the supports for the lining will be long enough to extend from one end to the other or a number of supports may be used in case they are of less length than the casket' That is for instance, the supports may be made half the lenvth of the casket and one support be used for the head half and the other support for the foot half. It will be seen from Fig. 10 that the ornamental display efi'ect of a third drop side casket is produced by my invention although the side of the body is not weakened. by being: cut out or hinged.

To produce the full couch effect shown in 11 supports are provided not only for the sides but for the ends as well. By having the ends and sides independent of each other however it is possible with the same identical construction to display the casket either with a full couch effect or with a one third drop side efiect.

By folding the supports entirely within the body the casket will have the appearance of av regularcasket without the attachments or extensions. It will thus be obvious that with such a construction the dealer may display the casket in various ways to a prospective customer. Such a possibility is of great value in as much as the dealer is not required to carry in stock so many samples.

This-not only reduceshisinitial investment but saves a great deal of storage and floor space. As the dealer can convert the casket into various forms i this way he avoids the necessity of carr-yingin stock formswhich may become obsolete or unsalable.

It should be understood of course that the manufacturer may sellthese caskets with the attachment located in any part of the casket which may be desired by thepurchaser or with a full set of supporting attachments for all the edges of the casket.

By the use of this invention I am able to produce caskets having, the appearance of standard designs as heretofore manufactured and yet I do not cut or otherwise weaken the cover or the shell of the casket as is done in other structures with which I am familiar such as half couch, full couch drop sides, simplex and shrines.

I claim:

1. A casket shell, a cover therefor, independently adj ustable' folding supports hinged tothe inner edges of the opposite sides of said shell and adapted to be extended over the edges of said shell and a lining secured to the edges of the shell and enveloping said folding supports, said supports being adapted to be folded up entirely within said shell and below the edges thereof.

2. A casket shell, a cover therefor, independently adjustable multi-parted folding supports hinged to the inner edges of the opposite sides of the shell and a lining secured to the edges of the shell and enveloping said folding supports, said supports being adapted to be folded up entirely within said shell.

3. A casket shell, a cover hinged to one edge thereof, a folding support hinged to the opposite edge of the shell and a lining enveloping said support, said support and lining being adapted to be folded up entirely within said shell below its upper edge and also adapted to be spread out over the front edge of said shell to produce the appearance of a drop side shell.

4. A casket shell, acover hinged to one edge thereof, a multi-parted folding support hinged to one edge of the shell and a lining enveloping said support, said support being adapted to be folded up entirely within said shell and also adapted to be spread out over the edges of said shell to produce the appearance of a drop side shell.

5. A casket shell, a cover therefor formed of two parts, one part having an opening and a cross bar, a detachable panel supported in said opening and having one end supported on said cross bar, a two-part folding support hinged within said shell along one edge thereof, and adapted to be folded down below the edge and a lining enveloping said support.

6. A solid casket shell, a rigid cover detachably hinged thereto and having an opening and a .cross bar, a panel detachably supported in said opening and having one end supported on said cross bar, a two-part foldingsupport hinged within said shell along one edge thereof and foldable below the edge, and a lining enveloping said support.

7. A casket shell, a folding support hinged within one edge thereof, pad secured at one edge to the outer edge of said support and a lining secured along one edge to the edge of said shell and enveloping said and support, the said pad and lining having free edges to permit access to the hinges.

8. A casket shell, a two-part folding support hinged within one edge thereof, an adjustable pad secured to said support and an adjustable lining secured to the edge of said shell and enveloping said pad and support.

9. A casket shell, padded folding supports hinged along at least one edge of the shell and at least one end of the shell, an independently adjustable pad having one edge secured in the corner of the shell between said supports, and a lining enveloping said supports and said corner pad.

10. A casket shell, folding supports hinged along at least one edge of the shell and at least one end of the shell, a soft pad support secured in the corner between said folding supports, and a lining enveloping said supports and said corner pad and adjustable independently of said supports.

11. In a casket, lining supports hinged to the inner edges of the shell at the front and at the back, a third lining support hinged inside the end, all three supports being foldable entirely below the edges of the casket shell and adapted to be extended outside and a lining embracing said supports when they are extended.

12. In a casket, lining supports hinged to the inner edges of the shell at the front and at the back, a lining support hinged inside the end of the shell, all three supports being foldable entirely below the edges of the casket shell and adapted to be extended outside said supports being independently adjustable, corner pad supports between the side and end supports, and a lining embracing said supports when they are extended.

13. A casket lining support attachment comprising two boards hinged to each other and three-part hinges secured to one board and adapted to be secured to the upper inner edge of the shell of a casket.

14. A casket lining support attachment comprising two boards hinged to each other and three-part hinges having adjustable friction joints secured to one board and adapted to be secured to the upper inner edge of the shell of a casket.

15. A casket lining support attachment comprising two boards hinged to each other and having beveled abutting edges to permit one to be supported at an angle on the &

other, and a hinge support for securing one board to the upper inner edge of a casketshell.

16. A casket shell, a folding lining support, a hinge member connecting the upper edge of the shell with the inner edge of the support and having two spaced apart hinge joints to permit said support to be folded entirely below the edge of said shell and to permit said support to be extended outside of and with its outer edge below the upper edge of said shell,

17. A casket shell, a folding lining support, a hinge member connecting the upper edge of the shell with the inner edge of the support and having two spaced apart hinge joints to permit said support to be folded entirely below the edge of said shell and to permit said support to be extended outside of and with its outer edge below the upper edge of said shell, one at least o1 said joints having adjustable friction means.

MURRAY J. MACDONALD. 

